Date expressions

Level 1

Swedish dates are usually written day-month (e.g., 1 maj) and spoken using ordinal numbers (e.g., 'den första maj'). Months are not capitalized.

How It Works

In Swedish, dates have a specific structure for both writing and speaking.

Written Dates
A clear format in running text is Day Month, for example: 1 maj or 24 december. The year–month–day format YYYY-MM-DD (e.g., 2023-05-01) is useful in document headings and structured dates. In running text, writing out the month is clearer; avoid ambiguous shortened years.

Spoken Dates
When you say the date, you use an ordinal number for the day. The structure is:
(den) + ordinal number + month

  • 1 maj is spoken as den första maj (the first of May)
  • 6 juni is spoken as den sjätte juni (the sixth of June)
  • 31 december is spoken as den trettioförsta december (the thirty-first of December)

An important rule to remember is that months and days of the week normally begin with lowercase letters in Swedish, unless they start a sentence or another capitalization rule applies.

With A Weekday Or Year
Måndag den 2 oktober and måndagen den 2 oktober are useful patterns; the weekday can also appear without den before the date. A full date such as 20 maj 2023 makes the day, month, and year clear. The written day numeral is read as an ordinal, while the year has its own number reading.

Examples (5)

  1. Idag är det den första april.

    Today is the first of April.

    Word by Word: Today is it the first April.

  2. Min födelsedag är den tjugonde september.

    My birthday is on the twentieth of September.

    Word by Word: My birthday is the twentieth September.

  3. Sveriges nationaldag är den sjätte juni.

    Sweden's national day is the sixth of June.

    Word by Word: Sweden's national day is the sixth June.

  4. Julafton är den 24 december.

    Christmas Eve is on the 24th of December.

    Word by Word: Christmas Eve is the 24 December.

    The written numeral 24 represents the ordinal date here and is read tjugofjärde, with or without den. A date written in digits is not therefore grammatically a cardinal number.

  5. Mötet är bokat till den 15:e mars.

    The meeting is booked for the 15th of March.

    Word by Word: The meeting is booked to the 15th March.

    The spelling 15:e makes the ordinal ending visible, but it is normally unnecessary before a month name: den 15 mars is the usual concise spelling. Both indicate femtonde mars.

Common Mistakes

  • Capitalizing the names of months.

    Jag fyller år i Maj.
    Jag fyller år i maj.

    Unlike in English, the names of months and days of the week are written with a lowercase letter in Swedish unless they begin a sentence.

  • Using a cardinal number (ett, två) instead of an ordinal number (första, andra) when speaking.

    Min födelsedag är den tjugo september.
    Min födelsedag är den tjugonde september.

    When saying a date, you must use the ordinal form of the number for the day, such as 'första' (1st), 'andra' (2nd), 'tredje' (3rd), 'tionde' (10th), etc.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Date expressionsLevel 1

Learn This First

To express dates in Swedish, you need to know ordinal numbers for the days, the names of the months, and how to use basic prepositions like 'i' and 'på' to place events in time.